Ayurvedic drinks in Sri Lanka, explained simply

Ayurvedic drinks in Sri Lanka are everyday drinks made with the island's herbs and spices: gotukola, curry leaf, cinnamon, ginger, turmeric and, more rarely, ashwagandha. Here is what each one is, how it is traditionally used, and which drinks on our menu hold it. It is food, not medicine.

What is Ayurveda, in a few lines?

Ayurveda is the traditional way of looking after the body that grew up on the Indian subcontinent and has been part of Sri Lankan life for a very long time. Much of it happens in the kitchen. It thinks in qualities such as warming and cooling, heavy and light, and it uses ordinary plants to balance them.

That is tradition, not proof. Modern studies have not confirmed most of the old uses, and we do not claim them. We like these plants because they taste of the island.

Which herbs and spices are these?

• Gotukola. A small, round, grassy leaf. Sri Lankans eat it chopped with coconut and lime beside rice, and drink it at breakfast as kola kanda, a green porridge of rice and coconut milk. It has long been used in traditional medicine.
• Karapincha, the curry leaf. The leaf of a small tree of the citrus family, native to this part of the world. It goes into hot oil at the start of many curries, and its smell is the smell of a Sri Lankan kitchen. It is used in the Ayurvedic and Siddha traditions.
• Cinnamon. True cinnamon is native to Sri Lanka, and most of the world's supply still comes from here. It is the inner bark of the tree, peeled by hand and rolled into thin quills. Traditionally it is used to help digestion.
• Ginger. A root that came from South-East Asia long ago. In Ayurveda it is considered warming.
• Turmeric. A yellow root of the ginger family, and the colour of most curries. It has a long history in Ayurveda, where it is traditionally paired with black pepper.
• Ashwagandha. The root of a shrub that grows in India and beyond. It is not an island plant, but it has been used in Ayurveda for a very long time. The name joins the Sanskrit words for horse and smell. In Ayurveda it is considered calming. It is not advised in pregnancy.

Which drinks on our menu hold them?

• The Ohana Ritual, 3,300 LKR. Three small shots, 40 ml each, on a wooden board, drunk from left to right. Cleanse: fresh turmeric, ginger, black pepper and lemon. Focus: gotukola, moringa, king coconut water, lime and mint. Glow: cacao, banana, dates, coconut milk, cinnamon and cardamom. Then a glass of filtered water.
• Single shots, 60 ml. Cleanse and Focus are 1,200 LKR each. Glow, the sweet one, is 1,350 LKR.
• Pitta Cooler, 2,400 LKR. Ayurveda calls the body's heat pitta. Coriander and fennel seeds are steeped in king coconut water and poured over ice with mint, lime and basil seeds.
• Date & Almond Shake, 2,400 LKR. Dates, banana and almonds with cold milk, cardamom, cinnamon and a spoon of kithul treacle.
• Ashwagandha Moon Milk, 2,400 LKR. Warm milk with ashwagandha root, turmeric, cardamom, cinnamon, black pepper and jaggery.
• Karapincha Mojito, 2,200 LKR. A mocktail in which curry leaf takes the place of mint, with lime, our curry leaf syrup and local orange.
• Ceylon Cinnamon Iced Tea, 1,200 LKR. Our syrup of strong Ceylon tea and cinnamon bark, over ice with lime.
• Lemongrass & Ginger Iced Tea, 1,200 LKR. Our syrup of lemongrass, fresh ginger and green tea, over ice with lime.

The names Cleanse, Focus and Glow are names. They describe a taste and a mood, not a result.

You will meet the same plants in the food: gotukola in the Gotukola Green Salad, 1,800 LKR, and curry leaf in the Sri Lankan Omelette, 2,400 LKR. Names, ingredients and allergens are all on the full menu.

When is each one drunk?

Tradition gives each drink its hour, and our menu follows it:

• In the morning, or after a swim: the Date & Almond Shake. In Ayurveda, dates, almonds and milk are considered strengthening.
• At midday, or after the beach: the Pitta Cooler. In Ayurveda, coriander, fennel and coconut are considered cooling.
• In the evening: the Ashwagandha Moon Milk, about an hour before sleep.

The Ritual, the iced teas and the Karapincha Mojito have no hour.

Is any of this medicine?

No. These are drinks made from leaves, roots, bark and fruit. We tell you what tradition says about them because it is part of this island's story.

If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, taking medicines or living with a condition, ask your doctor before you take herbs such as ashwagandha, here or anywhere. And tell us about any allergy: ours is one shared kitchen.

If you are curious, start with the Ritual and a Karapincha Mojito, and read what else the kitchen does on our restaurant page. There is more about eating consciously in vegan and healthy food in Dikwella.

Good to know

• The Ayurvedic elixirs are served all day, from 08:00 to 21:00.
• Prices are in LKR, plus a 10% service charge. Filtered water is on the house.
• No alcohol is served. The Karapincha Mojito is a mocktail.
• Ashwagandha is not advised in pregnancy.
• We are at Turtle Beach, Dikwella, less than five minutes by road from Hiriketiya.